A Midsummer Night's Dream
by lonelygirl54
Summary: Hermione and our dear Potions Professor get to know each other a little better... rating may change. Reworking/writing.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All and any characters, places, events, etc that you recognize here are owned by J.K. Rowling. All rights reserved, but not limited to Warner Bro., Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, Comic Relief, etc. No profit is being made with the use of this material. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter One- Prologue

The lithe little brunette looked out the window and sighed. Tonight it was only the full moon. She had three more days and a fortnight to wait. Then at last her family would be reunited. The elegant lady turned to her husband and asked once again, "Are you sure that we did the right thing Peter?"

The tall toned redhead turned from the fire saying, "Laura it was a necessary arrangement, for her safety and ours. Under Albus's protection nothing can happen to her. She will return to us, I promise." Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her head against his chest and nodded. Peter wrapped one arm around his wife's shoulders and used the other to close the drapes.


	2. A Little Dancing

The petite young lady sighed and rolled over in her sleep. Tonight she was finally able to find refuge in her dreams. For the past month and a half, her sleep had been fleeting, always restless and not restoring her drained energy. She had had Madam Pomfrey send her Dreamless Sleep Potions through the Owl Post, but they rarely worked well enough for her to get more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep. The young woman had tried tiring herself out until the point of exhaustion, but it didn't seem to work. Her habitual late night studying or reading didn't work either.

A howl, long and lonesome, lingered in the air, sounding not too far away. The brunette sat straight up in bed. Whilst it was the howl that had awoken her, something else didn't feel right. The air tingled and there was a constant but barely audible drone in her ears. Her mind was alert and slipping into detective mode, trying to figure out what she was feeling. Turning her bedside light on, she looked around the room, trying to distinguish if anything was out of place.

Hearing sounds from outside, she walked over to the window. Looking out, she saw her mother and father laughing, as they got out of the car. The brunette also noticed a shape silently shifting in the shadows, setting up to strike. Fearful for her parents, she flew down the stairs, furiously ripping through the hallway towards the front door.

"Mum! Daddy! Move now!" Her warning was quiet but spoken with urgency. Her parents, they're laughing and merry-making interrupted, glanced up surprised to see their daughter, whom they had left sleeping peacefully.

"Get away from the bushes, now!" Her mother and father looked around, perplexed but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Go back to sleep honey. Nothing is wrong. You're just tired from lack of sleep." Shaking her head, she rushed down the front steps and ran to her parents to try and hurry them along. "Please just get inside." She begged them.

Before either one could protest, a large shaggy brown wolf leaped out of the shrubs, snarling viciously. Ignoring the other two, it ran pointedly at the brunette's mother. Screaming in anguish and desperation, the tall brunette threw herself in front of her mother, knocking the wolf from its path. Mad that the girl caused it to miss its intended target the wolf pounced on her, flattening her on the ground.

Growling low in its throat, the wolf opened its mouth to end her life. Getting back her focus, the slim brunette pushed the heel of her palm into the bottom of the wolf's jaw while slamming her foot into its knee. Growling with pain and anger, the brown beast snapped at the young woman's wrist, just missing shattering it into pieces. Fixing her with a fierce glance and a long and hungry howl, the wolf bounded back into the woods surrounding the house.

Inside the house, the two adults were more scared than they had ever been in their entire lives. Something from their daughter's world had tried to attack them. In the family room, Natalie kept rearranging the pillows and throws that laid on the back of the couch while her husband James paced, head bent. Hearing the front door close, both stopped in their actions and rushed to the entrance way. Their daughter stood there, leaning against the closed and locked door, eyes closed and heart beating.

"Hermione, baby, are you alright? What happened?" her mother cooed at her, frantic and worried that something had happened to the beautiful daughter she had raised. Her father gathered the two distraught women in his arms. "'Mione babe, most importantly, what was that?" The deep voice of her father inquired of the brunette. "It was a werewolf, Daddy." Her mother gasped. "It ran off into the woods. I'll have to write to the ministry or even the Order about it, so no one else will be attacked." Giving her mother's hand a squeeze and momentarily leaning into her father, she left the embrace and walked back up stairs to her room.

Going over to her desk, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbling a quick note to the Ministry of Magic, reporting the incident. Pulling out her wand, she tapped the parchment and whispered "Duplico", and tied the two identical copies to her owl's leg. Carrying her pet over to the large window across from her bed, she told it, "One to the ministry, to the Department of Magical Creatures and the other to Dumbledore." The enormous Eagle owl hooted softly and gracefully glided out the open window.

Sighing, the girl flopped down on her down comforter and closed her eyes. The news that there was a werewolf in the immediate area was going to procure some trouble. The Ministry would probably scoff and tell her that it was impossible for any werewolves to remain, reasoning that all of them had been killed with the fall of the Dark Lord. Dumbledore would send someone to look in on it. If that were the case, then she could be expecting to have a visitor anytime now. Getting off the cozy bed, she wandered downstairs to inform her parents.

Albus looked up from the letter to the dark pacing man in front of him. "Calm down, my boy, calm down. You worry over nothing." The sullen man glared at the white bearded wizard, sitting calmly at the carved mahogany desk. "Headmaster," he spat out. "You actually want me to go and stay in that wretched girl's home, just because she sent a note about a wolf? What do you think I am? Some kind of Muggle emergency law person? I refuse to go."

A sigh was emitted from the older man. "Severus, you must go. You know that the Ministry will do nothing, as they think all the werewolf population to be died out." The resident Potions Master growled. Nodding his head curtly, he turned to leave. "How long shall I be visiting with the Grangers?" he bit out. Albus only smiled in response, leaving the sallow looking man to glare. Robes swirling around him, he left the Headmaster's office to pack an overnight bag.

Apparating to in front of the Granger's house, Severus set down his bags and brushed himself off. Grabbing his bags, one in each hand, he looked at the house for the first time. It was a large white Victorian house, down a long and curvy drive. From where he was standing, it appeared that there were two medium sized identical gargoyles on rectangular stone posts at the end of the drive. Set just off to the right and slightly forward of the house was the carriage house. Sighing, he started up the long driveway, wary and alert for any strange noises.

Reaching the house, he noticed that starting at the side of the house was a split timber fence that was interrupted by a gate that wound around an expansive back yard. Walking up the three steps to the porch, he crossed and banged the brass knocker on the door to inform them that they had a visitor.

Hearing the sound of the knocker, Natalie quickly walked to the front door. She hoped that this would be the help that Hermione promised her Headmaster would send. They didn't need any more surprises from the magical world tonight, nothing to put their lives in danger. Upon opening the door, she came across a dark, sour looking man, dressed all in black and with a scowl on his face. When she opened her mouth as to inquire who, exactly, he was, he interrupted her, saying "Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts. Good evening Mrs. Granger."

Natalie sighed with relief. The Headmaster had sent someone to look after them after all. "Where is your … knowledgeable, daughter?" The tall dark man muttered. The tall blonde woman started out of her reverie. "Oh." She blinked and shook her head to clear the thoughts. Opening the door and inviting him inside with a gracious sweep of her arm, Natalie stepped back as he entered and shut the door softly behind him. "I'll be just a moment." She then disappeared up the stairs.

Setting his bags down on the hardwood floor, the Professor meticulously inspected his whereabouts. The foyer, for that was really what it was, was large and open with a cathedral ceiling. The staircase ended on his right, sweeping up and around the perimeter of the room in a spiral sort of fashion. There was a landing in the middle of the staircase, right above the door, in front of a window.

In front of him, was a set of open French doors, leading to a sitting room. To his left was what he assumed was the dinning room, with dark deep mahogany wood dinning set-table, chairs, hutch- the likes. Severus couldn't see it, but he assumed that there was a kitchen behind the dinning area, complete with pantry, if the house design were anything to go by. To his right, after the stairs ended, were a doorway and a hallway. The doorway, from what the Professor could see, led into a modern Muggle living room, with a telly and a stereo system. Severus assumed that he would later find out was the hallway led to. Hearing footsteps on the stairs he turned around.

Walking down the stairway was Hermione Granger, Gryffindor's Know-It All and top Head Girl candidate. It was nearing the end of the summer and Severus could see that the bookworm had finally started to mature and grown into her adult mind. This year it looked as though she might have some difficulty keeping the male student body away from hers. He watched her with a guarded expression, masking his respect for the girl and her talents and his assessment of her. She moved with ease, graceful and poised.

She was wearing a pair of loose white light cotton drawstring pants and a close fitting white tank top. Her feet were bare and her nails painted a light pinkish nude colour. Her fingers were slender and long, the nails painted the same colour as her toes and adorned with a simple silver ring on her left pinkie and another on her right index finger. Her skin was soft looking creamy peach tone, with a slight dusting of freckles across her nose. Her hair had been tamed and now hung down her back in soft, loose, dark brown and honey coloured curls. Her eyes had taken on a green hue under the amber with gold specks. He had noticed this sometime last year when she had tried to stare him down in Potions class, after he had given her a detention for helping Neville for the fifth time that day.

Crossing to where he was still standing, Hermione reached her hand out while saying, "Professor Snape sir, thank you for coming at such a late hour." Shaking his hand, she felt the developed calluses on his palms and fingers. His hands were strong yet gentle and soft. He too felt her petite hand in his. It was soft and smooth, yet he knew them to be careful and precise, strong as well.

"Yes Miss Granger, Headmaster has so _graciously_ allowed me the privilege to be in your presence." He drawled with sarcasm. "However I may be here Miss Granger, I think it would be wisest to turn in for the evening and continue with just what exactly will be done tomorrow morn. Do you not agree?" He said pointedly, indicating that it was not a question but rather should be taken as a strong suggestion. She nodded. "Right. If you'll just follow me Professor, I will show you your rooms while you are residing with us." With that she started up the stairs again.

A/N- I know that there are a few spots of lengthy details, but I had a clear picture in my mind as to how everything looked and I wanted to get down on paper… figuratively.


	3. A Shifting Opinion

Leading him up the stairway, Hermione remained quiet. The first door at the top of the stairs on the left led to her parents' quarters. It had been the servants' quarters and was directly over the kitchen. The door across from the top of the stairs was the room he would be staying in.

The room held a king size sleigh bed, made of beechwood, as was the rest of the furniture. The bed sheets were dark rich earthy colours. The walls were dark paneled wood on the bottom and the top was a warm cream colour. Hermione pointed to a door on the right wall near the back. "That leads to the loo."

Two doors over was another guest room, usually used by her little cousins or Harry the few times that he stayed over. "The two guest rooms share the loo, which will explain the door that is opposite yours." Next she pointed to a door that was opposite the one for her parents' rooms. "This is my room. If you need anything during the night this is were you will find me. Don't worry about waking me up, I probably won't be asleep after earlier. Good-night Professor." With that, the brunette turned and disappeared into her room.

Hours later Severus awoke with a start. Something didn't feel right. The air around him tingled and set his nerves on end. Throwing the covers off, he swiftly made his way to Hermione's room.

The dark haired man opened the door only to find that she wasn't there, her name dying on his lips. Seeing a door slightly ajar across the room, he hurried to it. Upon reaching the open door he discovered that it led to a set of staircases- one up and one down. Noticing that stairs going up were dimly lit, he all but ran up them noiselessly. Pushing aside the curtain in the doorway atop the stairs he discovered what could've passed for a room at Hogwarts.

Almost everywhere there was not a door or window there were shelves- shelves filled with an endless amount of books and there was a respectable number of potions ingredients on the shelves too. The floor was hard wood with the odd throw rug.

In the space of the room over Hermione's room was set up as a Potions lab. Shelves neatly organized with cauldrons, ingredients, and such. There were four sturdy work tables set in a square with a big round sink in the center. The back wall was made entirely of a white board; ingredients and potions and calculations written all over it.

At the moment there were three cauldrons sitting over fires, their contents wafting soft shimmer fumes. The dark haired man noticed that in the far corner there appeared to be a shower stall of kinds. 'Perhaps for emergencies,' he pondered to himself.

In the middle of the large room, where he stood, were two cream coloured couches and their chairs arranged in a square with a large glass table in the middle. There were dark brown pillows and throw blankets on the couches and just pillows on the chairs. The table was covered with Muggle notebooks and single pieces of parchments, all filled with writing, and numerous books were open.

Hearing a soft ruffling Severus looked up. In the rafters of the sloped ceiling hung dried herbs and various ingredients used in potions. Toward the end farthest from the lab, a few owls sat in the rafters, watching him watching them. _'It seems that the chit has more than a few surprises up her sleeve,'_ he mused.

In addition to her own eagle owl, Potter's snowy owl was up there along with a few school owls, a Boreal owl, a Northern Hawk owl and a couple of non-descript barn owls that he didn't recognize. A few of the owls had letters attached to their feet.

The very end of the room Severus noticed was a greenhouse. The ceiling was glass; the walls were all made of glass, including the door to the rest of the room.

The side of the greenhouse that was housed inside the attic room had counters up against it with utensils for preparing plants and seeds. There was also a sink to wash up in, two hardy tables and a wardrobe, which he suspected had clean clothes and clothes for protection against harmful plants.

Over all the Potions Master considered to room to be impressive for a girl of her age to have. He included many of the books and ingredients she possessed to be included in the room, for he knew some of them to be very difficult to obtain even for a Potions Master.

Seeing a shape move in the greenhouse from the corner of his eye, he moved in that direction. Opening the door just wide enough for him to slip in, he quietly entered, focusing on the young woman now clearly visible near the near right hand corner of the room. She wore a short sleeve black robe over her clothes; Erumpent kid gloves on her hands and her hair pulled back and up out of the way.

Slinking up behind her making no noise, he observed that brunette was in the middle of repotting an adolescent sample of a rupturing Moonmerk weed, used in stealth potions. Seeing that his most adept student was managing the task magnificently, Severus Snape sat back and watched silently so as not to ruin her concentration. After a few moments, he let his eyes wander over the contents of the greenhouse.

"Can't sleep Professor?" The brunette had turned around after feeling him enter her domain. She was looking straight at him, eyebrow cocked and a half smile playing on her lips. "What do you think of my room?"

"Miss Granger now is hardly the time to be playing games and asking silly questions. Something has touched my senses and it is neither familiar nor comforting. We need to investigate." With this he swept from the room and headed back down the stairs, out of her room and down the stairs to the foyer.

Shrugging out of her work robes and hanging them beside the greenhouse door, she cleaned the dirt smudges off her face and plaited her hair neatly with a few flicks of her hand. She caught up easily with her Potions professor.

"This is how it felt earlier this evening when the werewolf was around. Perhaps he's back Professor." She commented, the last part sounding more like a question then a statement.

"Indeed." He intoned silkily. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her, "If that is indeed the case then you shall stay inside away from the danger or if you prefer you can circle the grounds on a broom and assist me from the air. What will it be Ms. Granger?" He added the second choice when he had seen her open her mouth to protest.

"With all due respect sir, if I may suggest another option." She indirectly asked. For a few moments she studied her hands and the floor, and then ventured a look to her dour professor. "And what Miss Granger," he drawled, "do you suggest?"

"An animagus form sir."

Snape paused, momentarily stunned. '_Then again_,' he thought, _'she is considered to be the brightest witch since Ravenclaw herself and her NEWT scores are expected to surpass the present records.'_ "Perhaps you would like to indulge me in what form this may be?" The dark haired man airily demanded. They were now standing in the foyer.

Hermione studied her professor who stood in front of her. With a start she noticed that he was still in his sleeping attire. Blushing profusely she looked down at the ground. "Sir, um perhaps you ought to ah …change into some regular clothes."

Looking down at himself, Severus realized that the chit was right. He _was_ still in his night clothes. Flicking his wand over his head, he was immediately dressed for their expedition. He had Muggle clothes on-dark green baggy cargo pants, a tight black t-shirt, a black hoodie and black work boots. He supposed that it would have to do for now and the colours would most certainly help in stealth.

"Not a word to any of your peers Granger." The raven haired man instructed to his student. She nodded mutely. "Now, your animagus form." He all but ordered.

Backing up Hermione closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall into her magic. Thinking of what she needed, she visualized the shape and form of the animal that she wished to become. Starting to feel herself shifting she concentrated on the details. Finally she opened her eyes.

Severus was stunned. Where once stood his most promising student now sat a beautiful black panther. He thought that when she stood she would probably come to just above his knees, which was saying something as he was 6'3".

Shifting back, Hermione willed a silk screen to be in front of her. Quietly snapping her fingers, she was dressed in baggy black lounge pants and a tight grey t-shirt.

"That was most impressive Miss Granger. Care to tell me what you've discovered this summer?" It was posed as a question but the petite young woman knew better. If she didn't answer him he'd be very angry indeed.

"I've learned to shift my shape sir. I can will myself into just about any form and back with ease." The brunette stated quietly, looking at her feet the entire time. "I can also play with the elements and magic itself. I see it everywhere. It was frightening at first but now I'm quite used to it."

The Potions master had never heard of anything like it. It sounded so whimsical that he automatically didn't believe her. "Show me." He demanded in his deepest most dangerous voice.

Closing her eyes, Hermione quickly melted in the form of a bird. Taking flight she flew a few desperate circles around the foyer. Climbing, she shifted shapes when she was even with the second floor, becoming the house emblem for Slytherin. Three feet from the floor she changed yet again and was a cat, landing gracefully on its feet.

Before his eyes, Severus watched his student transform. The cat she had been was now becoming larger, shifting to a lion and then a bear. The bear rose up on hind feet sitting what looked like 8 feet tall. The form of the bear then melted to become first a dog and next a wolf.

Pacing around the room in one of her favorite shapes, Hermione switched to a horse. Standing in front of her speechless professor, the Hermione-horse changed back to the large black panther she was first.

"Miss Granger, I assume you can still hear and understand what I say." The panther nodded. "Good. While we are out there, do inform before you desire to switch shapes." She nodded once more. "Let's go."

A/N- The room's a big rectangle-the white board and greenhouse are on the shorter sides; the white board on the right end and the green house is on the left. Snape's standing in the middle of the room.

Mmm right. Well I got the idea of a shape shifter from another story I had read on an independent website that I have been unable to find again, so I decided to use it. Muchly sorry if it were you.


	4. A Midnight Rendezvous

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Chapter 3- A Midnight Rendezvous

As soon as they were outside Hermione-Panther picked up an intense amount of new smells and sounds with her extra sensitive nose and ears. Severus stood next to her, wand at ready and suspiciously observing everything, as was his nature. Twitching her ears and turning her head towards him the magnificent panther that was Hermione could hear his heart beating- steady and strong, and hear his breathing in and out- deep and even. His scent was very easily detected too. It was a mixture of the numerous potions ingredients he used, the smells of his bathing soaps and cologne and something else that was very subtle and manly. In short, he smelled exquisite.

Suddenly her excellent hearing singled out an unusual sound- something was coming their way. Hermione-Panther could hear the feet or paws of whatever it was hitting the ground. The wind shifted just then and she could smell it as well. It too had that subtle man smell but there was something else mingling in with it. The foreign scent made her nose itch and reminded her of the stench that hung over the battle field where Voldemort had been defeated and so many died. Nudging her Professor's thigh with her nose, the Animagi turned and began to slink towards where the other creature was.

Feeling her prod his leg the dark man watched her creep her way forward to the bushes next to the wide open backyard. He had no choice but to follow her and trust her superior senses. As he quietly tailed along behind he became aware of a couple of things. The girl-panther in front of him was growling low in her throat. From the woods he heard soft menacing snarls and pacing. He stopped and tensed, waiting as he heard the pacing cease and the night air become quiet. Looking around he saw that his student had disappeared.

Backing up a bit, he moved to position himself in a dueling stance and got ready for an attack. The foliage on the ground rustled not 5 meters from where he stood and the creature sniffed the air, finding out where his prey was. Severus could feel his heart starting to beat faster and felt his body start to sweat due to the adrenaline coursing through his system. His muscles tensed, ready to react. And then the beast roared and rocketed towards him, leaping in the air, going straight for his throat.

As the dark man saw his life start to flash before him and he felt regret for everything he did or didn't do, time seemed to slow down to him, drawing out the inevitable. In the middle of the werewolf's leap, a dark shape came hurling out of the darkness next to him. The shape hit the deranged beast hard in its ribs, knocking it down out of the air. The two creatures rolled around on the ground, ending with the unidentified one on top of the werewolf. As he was staring, the thing on top started to change. It was growing larger and bulkier by the second for what seemed forever, until it stopped. Gingerly sitting on the werewolf, using just enough force to keep it from moving the creature turned its head and looked directly at him. He was aghast. Then he understood. It was Hermione.

Striding to where the two creatures were, he saw that the girl had transformed into an enormous polar bear and that she had the dark creature firmly pinned to the ground. Nodding at her, the Death Eater turned spy pointed his wand to the downed man-beast and wordlessly conjured magical ropes to bind it. As an extra precautionary measure he fiercely whispered,

"Stupefy!"

The girl-polar bear slowly and carefully climbed off the unconscious beast and began to shrink. When she was a small furry tabby cat, the transformation stopped. Hermione-cat sat down and looked up at him, as if to say _"Now what?"_

Severus dragged his hand over his face and expelled a long breath. He looked down at his student. She had saved his life. He had mixed feelings about this. By turns he was very grateful, but then he was also somewhat resentful for now he owed her a life debt. This did not sit well with him at all.

"Now we have a decision to make. If we inform the Ministry, a number of things will be complicated. They would undoubtedly kill this person, no matter whom or what they are. They will also ask some very revealing question which would definitely lead to your newfound abilities being admitted. Right now this is not something I think is wise. It could come in very handy someday, as long as you don't abuse this." At this he gave her a pointed look.

"If we get Albus then he will want to try and rehabilitate them and perhaps 'ask' them to help me improve the Wolfsbane potion. In turn we will have to hide their being at Hogwarts. Of course the Headmaster will be more than delighted that you have mastered these new skills of yours. Perhaps for now, there is somewhere we could move him to, so that no one will be able to see him? Until of course, a decision is made."

The tabby cat nodded at him and began to trot away. Using a levitation charm, the Hogwarts professor picked up the stupefied beast and followed her. It appeared that they were heading towards a large barn that was a slight distance behind the house. At the door, she sat patiently and looked up at him expectantly. Seeing this he looked back down at her, one eyebrow raised. The girl-cat continued to look up at him. He sighed. With a wave of his hand the locked undid itself and the door opened silently. Turning his head back to his student he saw that she had started into the barn and as she made her way down the wide middle, dim lights came on. Shaking his head, he followed her, being careful to not to bumped his charge into anything.

The girl-cat stood patiently at the very end of the barn, near an empty stall. As he made his way towards her, Severus noticed that the horses in the stalls back up as far as possible when he passed. He wasn't sure if this was due to the dark nature of the levitated beast or because of his darkened aura. When he had reached where she was good-naturedly waiting, he preceded her into the stall and gently set the man-beast on the hard wood floor. Backing out, her shut the door firmly and placed close to two dozen spells around it so that the creature wouldn't be able to escape should it somehow wake from its stupefied state. Walking back out of the large building with his student, the austere man was surprised to see the sun coming up over the horizon.

Shifting his attention to the cat trudging next to him, he wasn't all that surprised to see that her tail drooped a bit and the usually alert whiskers seemed to lack energy. It would be a good guess then that Hermione-cat would go inside and head straight to bed. They could definitely wait a few hours before dealing with the man that was stored in the barn. A thought came to him abruptly then.

"Do your parents know about your shape changing abilities?" the dark man inquired of his student.

The tabby by his side shook its head in the negative. Severus pondered what to do about this, as he was pretty sure that the girl did not have enough energy to change back to her human form.

"Am I correct in my assumptions that you are going to have a lie down for a couple of hours to regain your energy?" The girl-cat nodded.

"Then I shall inform your parents that we rendezvoused with the werewolf this morning and you went back to bed exhausted. Do they sleep in on the weekend?" He questioned. Again the cat shook its head in the negative.

"Are they up, say, before 8?" At this she nodded.

"What about 7?" He asked sharply. Hermione-cat looked like she was debating this internally and tilted her head side to side.

"So you would say between 7 and 8 in the morning." Another nod.

"Very well. Let us proceed indoors and I will keep your parents from disturbing you for as long as possible. As it is only gone 5, I believe I will retire to the bath and then to the sitting room to do some research. We will be discussing this when you awake." Severus informed her of the events of the following hour and found she had no problems with his intentions.

By this point they were standing on the porch, facing each other in front of the front door. The dark man opened the door noiselessly and followed Hermione-cat inside and up the stairs. He watched her enter her room and closed it for her at his wordless request. He then turned towards his own room and made his way to a hot shower.

Two and a half hours later would find Severus Snape in the sitting room of the Granger's expansive house. He was working on improving the Wolfsbane potion and was currently resaearching the effects of new ingredients discovered in the tropical forests in New Zealand and Guatemala. There were about 32 different plants and fungi alone, never mind the animal parts that he was waiting on. The youngest Potions Master in a couple of centuraries had run the Arithmantic equations on three of the new components and was growing quite frustrated with the results he was getting.

A bit earlier, the dark man had heard someone moving around upstairs. He could only assume that it was either Mr. or Mrs. Granger, as Hermione was likely to sleep for more than a couple of hours. It was Mrs. Granger. She looked a little surprised to him up so early and told him so.

"Professor Snape! I wasn't expecting anyone to be up this early, especially after the late night we all had."

"I am sorry if I startled you. Ms. Granger and I had another encounter with our wayward werewolf last night. I found myself unable to sleep after."

"Oh!" Her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "Is Hermione alright? What happened? I should go check on her!" She started to turn around and make her way towards the stairs.

"Actually, she asked me to tall you she's having a bit of a lie in this morning and to please not bother her. She was quite tired."

At this, Mrs. Granger's resolve to check on her daughter faltered.

"Well she did say that she's still been having trouble sleeping lately. Nothing seems to help. Hermione even wrote the nurse at her school for some tonic- Dreamless Sleep I believe, but even that only grants her a handful of hours at best."

At this Severus raised an eyebrow. Now he knew why Poppy wanted such a large supply of the Dreamless Sleep potion.

"Do you know, we even tried taking her to a hypnotist but that didn't work either." Mrs. Granger sighed. "Well if this will let her get some sleep then I won't wake her." She seemed to get lost in her thoughts after this, but snapped back to reality when Severus' stomach let out a loud rumble. He looked affronted and surprised- he didn't realize he was hungry until just now.

"Oh where are my manners? Come, let me put on the kettle for tea and I'll make some breakfast while it steeps." Her tone offered no room for arguments, to the point that Severus was reminded of her daughter. The dark man packed up his papers and followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the scrubbed wooden table. He waited while the older woman went about setting things up for tea and breakfast.

"Perhaps," he started of slowly, while watching her as she got out eggs, kippers, bangers, hashes, and tomatoes, "you could tell me more about Ms. Granger's insomnia." Mrs. Granger nodded and replied,

"Of course."

A short time later the two adults were sitting down at the kitchen table with tea and breakfast before then when Mr. Granger walked in.

"Good morning dear, Professor." He kissed his wife on the cheek and nodded at Severus, then made up his own plate and sat down with them.

"So what is this mornings pow-wow about?" He asked lightly.

"Hermione," his wife replied. "The good Professor was asking about her insomnia." Mr. Granger dipped his head. Severus scoffed internally at the adjective in front of his title.

"What exactly did you want to know about her sleeping problems?" Mr. Granger asked evenly.

"How many hours of sleep does she get?"

"Oh I'd say anywhere from one to three."

"How long has it been since she's gotten more than six or seven hours if sleep?"

"Let's see, probably about a month or two?" Mr. Granger had a pondering look on his face as he spoke.

"More like most of the year dear. She doesn't tell you these things because she doesn't want you to worry. That combined with the fact that you are not all that observant when it comes to little things," His wife countered.

"Okay well you have me there. So it's closer to a year."

"How is the quality of sleep when she does get any?"

"Restless, definitely."

"No dreams, so she says but she often yells or cries out, especially when she's had a stressful day." This comment made him think that perhaps Hermione was stilling being plagued by memories of the bloody battle that had ended the war not even a year gone.

They noticed then that everything any of them said in the conversation was being recorded by a self writing pen and were so distracted by it that they didn't hear what his next question was.

"Sorry, what was that?" Mr. Granger responded first.

"I was wondering if you'd elucidate what you meant by 'restless'?" He looked at Mrs. Granger.

"Of course. Hermione tosses and turns most of the night and when she wakes up, she's more tired than she was originally."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but did she ever experience any sort of trauma when she was young? Car accident, witnessing the death of a close family member, anything of the sort either physically or emotionally?"

"Goodness no! Nothing like that. She's our little pride and joy, our treasure. We'd never let harm every come to her!"

"Is there a history in the family of insomnia or other mental diseases?" He inquired with extreme caution. At this the two elder Grangers shared a look.

"Well nothing like that, no, but… we, we wanted so badly, that is to say, Hermione is adopted, she's adopted."

Please review when you've finished reading, it's wonderful to get feedback- whether it's praise or constructive.

LG54


	5. A Secret of Her Own

A/N: I don't own any of this. Anything and everything you recognize as Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and her associations. No money is being made, just creative writing.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Chapter 5- A Secret of Her Own

Previously:

"_Well nothing like that, no, but… we, we wanted so badly, that is to say, Hermione is adopted, she's adopted."_

This kindled Severus' interest.

"What adoption agency did you use? Did they supply you with any information on her biological family? How old was she when you adopted her? Is the birth date you celebrate her actual one or just one they gave you?"

"Hmm, let me go get the files I kept with this information in it." Mr. Granger got up and went presumably to his office to get the papers he had mentioned. The two adults left in the kitchen sat in silence for a few moments until Mrs. Granger spoke up.

"We knew she was gifted, you know." At the word 'gifted', she held her hands out and wiggled her fingers to show she meant magic.

"But that didn't stop us. Hermione was such an adorable little baby girl, looking sad like she knew where she was and what was going on around her. Yet at the same time she looked brave and determined. We knew right away that she was the one we wanted. The agency, I think, was run by wizards and witches, because they seemed very reluctant to let Muggles adopt her. Hermione was only about a year and a half old, but she made it plain as day that she wanted to go with us. I think she threw some kind of fit. They said she refused to even sit quietly with any other couples, magical or Muggle, and had outbursts when they tried to surprise her with anyone else. We got to take her home with us permanently six weeks later. Four months after that she started talking. The agency, they had a file with her information in it, but it was sealed and they were unable to open it, except for 'When the Time is Right,' was all it said. The staff was given very specific records, saying what did or didn't run in the family, but was careful not to reveal anything about said family. The records didn't even say when her birthday is; just that she was a year to two years old. So we celebrate that day we met her and fell in love with the beautiful baby girl in the adoption agency."

It was a lot to take in, yet with everything Mrs. Granger said, more questions popped into Severus' head, but first there was something else he speculated about and wanted to get cleared up. He was a bit surprised to hear that the Grangers had known that Hermione was a witch and had taken her in anyways. He wondered how they knew of such things before they raised a little girl with special abilities. Severus knew from talking to the parents' of Muggle born student that magic made it was slightly more challenging and demanding to raise such a child than one without magic. Magic seemed to manifest at an early age in Muggle-borns and made some situations all the more difficult. The wizard opened his mouth to inquire this of Mrs. Granger, when she answered the question.

"My brother," she simply stated. "He was a wizard. My father was an ambassador for England and at the time when we found out, we were living in France. He was accepted at both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. He attended there, because it was close enough to where we were stationed and was considered good PR for both the magical and wizarding world. He was a victim of Voldemort's first reign of terror."

"I'm deeply sorry for your loss."

"Thank you"

"… your husband?"

"Ah yes, James and I met at Uni, the day I received the letter from my parents telling me of the death of my favorite older brother.

"Does Ms. Granger know? Is Hermione her given name? Or is it one you picked?"

"Surprisingly yes. We told her when she was ten years old and she sat there, just looking at us and said 'I know, but I consider you my only parents because you raised me and cared for me.' We were so startled. Hermione is the name we choose for her. That was another piece of information that wasn't given to the agency people."

"Have you tried to open the packet from the agency since?"

"Yes, yes of course we have. They held on to it until Hermione had become of an age that they deemed appropriate and then they sent it to us. That was when she was 14. She's tried every year since then and I believe she will probably try again at the end of this summer, before going off to school."

"Is she anxious to open it? As though she wants to know who her biological family is and find them? Now that I think about it, she resembles you and your husband. Did the adoption agency perform a spell so that her features more closely match yours? Or did she always have the same appearance?"

Mrs. Granger looked like she didn't know where to start. Fortunately for her, Mr. Granger came back this time with a file folder over flowing with papers.

"Anxious? No, no. I wouldn't say she was anxious. More like curious than anything else I believe. You know how our Hermione is with knowledge; thirsts for it and soaks it up like a sponge. I think more than anything, she just wants to know that she truly belongs in your world, the magical world. As far as I know, the staff at the agency did not perform any spells to make her look more like us; she's just always looked like she was a natural part of the family."

"These are the records that were left with the staff at the agency. There isn't much personal information about Hermione, just general information about the families' medical and magical history. Basically there are no major medical problems in either side's family history. There have been a couple of cases of diabetes, one case of insanity and a handful of cases of drinking and depression. Migraines are common throughout both sides of the family-"

"Which we know that Hermione has inherited. She's had more than a handful a year since she turned six and nothing that we've tried has help." Mrs. Granger interrupted.

"Yes, of course. Very upsetting trying to explain things like that to a little girl, crying because her head hurts so much and knowing there's nothing we can to do ease her pain. It broke our hearts to see her in such a great amount of pain, so uncomfortable. Let's see where was I? Ah yes, the woman in the family tend to go into labor pre-term, it's as common as the migraines… but you probably didn't need that bit of knowledge, sorry 'bout that. Hmm, magically, the woman have shown a propensity for being multiple Animagi, no idea what that is, and every couple of generations, the immunity to Veritaserum and other such potions pops up. They have an intense coming of age with no specific markers to indicate that this is happening. The males are usually gifted with the Sight and occasionally wandless magic. That's all the information they were given."

Severus sat there thinking about all the information that the Grangers had supplied him. He had some ideas bouncing around in his head, but nothing concrete.

"And what about the agency?" he pressed.

"It was a small place based in London, just a few branches across the country. At the time, we lived up near Glasgow and the branch there is where we found Hermione. We moved to the London area when she was about four years old. It was taken over about a decade ago by some internationally agency. The company that took over sent someone every year to check on Hermione until she turned 16, at which point she reamed them out for being suspicious of us." Mr. Granger was grinning as he told Severus this last piece of information.

As the quick note Quill wrote everything down, Severus' thoughts were consumed by the new information revealed to him.

"Have you ever sat down with Ms. Granger and talked about her adoption? Why she was so adamant about going with you?"

"We have. She couldn't explain what made her choose us. Wasn't even sure how she was remembering it so clearly, especially as she was so young. All she could tell us was that she knew somehow that she would be safe and well cared for and loved with us." At this the dark man rolled his eyes, internally of course.

"How very fairytale-esque." He resisted sneering, but only just.

The self propelling quill paused and Severus took the moments lull in conversation to look over what had been written. Fortunately enough for him the notes had organized themselves into a recognizable time line and had bulleted the important facts.

"Do the files you received have any notes on this magical coming of age that is mentioned in the family history?" Mr. Granger looked through the files he had in front of him on the pantry table.

"There isn't much here. Just that it normally occurs on the young woman's birthday, which one it doesn't say though."

"Hmm. How old is Ms. Granger now?"

"Well by our reasoning and how we've kept track of her age, she's 17 now and will be turning 18 the beginning of September. Although we can't be entirely sure that it is a correct record considering the lack of birth date in her files."

"I see. I believe I have spot of research to do and need to reach some of my colleagues at Hogwarts. Mrs. Granger thank you very much for breakfast, it was excellent. If you would please excuse me." The Potions Master nodded at both of her parents and took leave of the table, sweeping from the room, though without his customary black robes billowing behind him.

"He's very polite, despite what Hermione has said."

"Maybe it's because we're not, what was it that she said he calls all the students? I believe the term was 'Dunderheads.'" Mr. Granger grinned at his wife.

"No I don't believe we are." With that, the two remaining adults began to clean up the kitchen from breakfast.

Upstairs in the bedroom the Grangers had graciously allowed him to stay in, Severus paced the floor, intent on his thoughts. They were rapid and flowed from one possibility to the next, all of them focusing on the girl, no young woman he corrected himself, that slept peacefully and unaware in the room just meters from where he stood. He knew that he had hit on something that the Headmaster hadn't meant to be found out. The Potions Master was well aware that Albus meddled in business that wasn't his, although he thought it to be. Severus felt as though he had been uncovering a lot of the older wizard's interventions lately and wondered if the twinkling old fool was starting to slip up.

He fully believed that it was Dumbledore's intentions that Hermione be adopted by the Grangers- they were very well off financially, well educated, conservative, had knowledge of the wizarding world but no interaction with it and most of all, inconspicuous in both the muggle and wizarding world. They were neither politicians nor big business conglomerates. They owned a small business that offered a service to the general public; they were very friendly and well mannered and didn't show off their money as some were wont to do. They had no enemies and would have and indeed did raise Hermione with no biased view or opinions towards any gender, race, nationality or abilities. Severus wondered what that blasted wizard was up to.

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, he sat in the plus armchair that was in front of the fireplace in the bedroom. He needed to contact Minerva and subtly find out whether or not she was involved in any of this and just how much she worshipped the ground that Albus Dumbledore walked on. He also had a few question regarding her favorite student that needed to be answered as well.

"Might as well get this over with as soon as possible," he muttered darkly to himself, feeling only slightly burdened by taking on the case of his most talented, but annoying students.

Going to the desk in the corner of the room, the dark wizard was slightly amused to find it stocked with parchment, quills and inks, rather than the normal ballpoint or fountain pen and white lined paper that the muggles were so fond of. Shaking his head and moving past this, he began to shape a letter to Minny. He wanted to know what the birth date they had on record was for one Ms. Hermione Granger and whether or not it said anything about her being adopted. He was quite curious as to what this search would turn up. He also subtly slipped in the missive some well veiled inquiries about the headmaster and his manipulations. He hoped that Minvera would respond as he anticipated and would unknowingly give him the information he needed to begin a little snooping and meddling of his own. Banishing the letter to Hogwarts, he had nothing left to do but sit and wait her reply. With a sigh and a slump of his shoulders, he returned to the Arthimancy problems he had been running on the newly found ingredients.

Finally! I've been trying to find time to write but life has caught up with me, and it's so overwhelming when I have all these ideas and directions in my head but not on paper. Read and review. Please. I enjoy the feedback and the creative motivation they provide. LG54


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